Super Bowl Chow

   Long-time readers of this page know that quite a bit of my time is spent in the kitchen. IM me some time... if I don't respond, I'm either in the kitchen or with the kids. My main daytime hobbies are writing, walking, and cooking.

   Mother Monponsett was a fairly serious cook in her day, and my family owned a series of restaurants for many years. All of her children (myself included) were taken into the kitchen and trained how to properly cook. She worked us in shifts, with each sister getting about four years of serious one on one training.

   She was very serious about cooking. I've been yelled at for cracking an egg poorly, if you need a visual. College wasn't easier, but it was less intense. Still, I turned out to be a wicked good cook. I also have a lot of cookbooks- I could probably stack them up to the shape and size one usually associates with home extensions.

   Cooking is an art, and it is one that is rarely appreciated by most. While great chefs often get famous, moms who know how to cook an extravagant dinner usually don't get many props outside of a small circle of family and friends.

   I love cooking for people, and I try to host as many dinner parties as I can. It's sort of half showing off, half socialization via food. A lot of recipe sharing goes on among my friends and I. I'm pretty much the only person I know who goes from Pro Football Chat to Food Chat, one right after the other.

   Anywhooo.... guess who is hosting the Super Bowl this year? That's right, your favorite Smurf is having several of the neighbors over for a sort of open house. I just found this out about an hour ago.

   I also was told that it wold be cool if we had those 6 foot sandwiches that you always see on TV, which sort of made the turkey in my freezer feel left out. There's not a lot of charisma in a 6 foot ham sandwich, so I've been hunting all day for a sandwich recipe that has a little more funk to it.

  The key is to deviate from the typical six foot sandwich offerings. I've chosen a sandwich recipe that I'll basically add zeroes to in order to make the sandwich Allen Iverson-sized. It's also fairly simple, once you get by the complicated stuff.

   That turkey need not worry.. I have plans for that ass! I also found a bakery that has no problem with making me any sort of bread I want, however long I may want it. After that, it's off to the butcher and the deli. I have enough breadboards to cover the countertop, and we'll have a strict No Sloppy Dog In The Kitchen policy that I'm sure my daughter will violate at some point in the pregame.

   Ok... heeeeeeere we go:

    Turkey and Roasted Pepper Panini - poultry recipe on the Worlwide Gourmet

Ingredients for 4 servings

8 large slices crusty Italian bread 8 slices cooked turkey, breast 1 375 ml (12 fl. oz) bottle roasted red peppers, drained, cut in strips 50 ml (1/4 cup) chopped black or green olives, pitted 250 g (8 oz.) sliced Provolone or mozzarella cheese 50 ml (1/4 cup) creamy Italian or ranch-style salad dressing olive oil

Method

1. Top 4 slices of bread each with 2 turkey slices, 2 to 3 pieces red pepper, 30 ml (2 tbsp) olives and 60 g (2 oz.) cheese.
2. Spread remaining bread slices with salad dressing and place (dressing side down) on top of other half of bread. Brush outside of sandwich with olive oil.
3. Heat large skillet over medium heat until hot. Add sandwiches and heat until bread is golden, about 4 minutes. Turn sandwich over and grill second side until golden.

   Sandwich may be grilled on a preheated countertop grill for about 3 minutes, or until bread is golden and cheese has softened.

      <FONTCOLOR=#FFFFFF>Smurf notes:

   The problem here isn't the turkey, which I can just cook the day before. It's fitting that recipe- which seems to involve a Foreman Grill- to the six foot sandwich. This is a potentially Dangerous sandwich when factorted out to Gilbert Arenas' height.

   I may end up using 5 or 6 regular Italian bread loaves, although this would be a startling visual presentation once we lug it out to the serving table.

   Right now, I'm thinking that I can use Italian bread and just move the Foreman grill down the sandwich as I prepare it for shipping, and won't my sister be happy when she learns that she's a part of this plan?

   This is the sandwich featured at the top of the page.

 

Next, we have...

Lobster Egg Sandwich Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 slices sandwich bread, toasted, crusts trimmed
• butter
• 3/4 cup finely chopped bacon
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 cup flaked lobster meat
• 2 to 4 tablespoons butter
• 8 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

PREPARATION:

Spread toast lightly with butter. Cut 4 slices diagonally, into halves. For each sandwich, arrange 1 whole toast slice with a toast halfon each side. Cook bacon in skillet; add onion and green pepper and cook until tender.Drain off excess bacon grease; add lobster and cook just to heat. Add a little butter if needed for cooking eggs.

Combine eggs, salt, and pepper; beat slightly. Add to lobster mixture in skillet and cook as for scrambled eggs. Spoon cooked eggs with lobster over toast and serve hot. Garnish with tomato slices and olives, if desired.

Smurf Notes:

   Stretching this sandwich to Steve Nash size isn't really economically feasible unless you have a friend who is married to a lobsterman, as I do.

   The transition between sandwich bread to Italian bread adds taste, while also providing a better sandwich to hold while screaming at a lazy cornerback.

   This will be a lot more labor intensive, but it should end up being an astounding chow.

 

   I'm also going to make a Lobster Pie this week... doesn't this look good?

 

Lobster Pie Recipe - Lobster Pot Pie With Mushrooms and Vegetables

Bake this puff pastry-topped lobster pie in individual bakers or a shallow baking dish. A delicious main dish for a special occasion.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup sliced green onion
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 cup dry sherry or white wine
• 1/2 cup clam juice or juices from cooking the lobster, or chicken broth
• 2 1/2 to 3 cups diced lobster
• 2 cups half-and-half, whole milk, or light cream
• 1 cup cooked mixed vegetables or peas and carrots, drained
• 1 sheet puff pastry
• dash paprika
• freshly grated nutmeg, about 1/8 teaspoon
• pinch salt, to taste
• pinch freshly ground black pepper
• egg wash - 1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water

PREPARATION:

Melt butter in large saucepan. Add mushrooms and onions and stir until tender. Sprinkle with flour; cook until flour is absorbed into the butter. Add sherry and clam juice or chicken broth; stir over low heat until mixture thickens.

Remove mushroom mixture from heat.

Stir in the lobster and cream, then the hot cooked vegetables. Taste and add paprika, nutmeg, salt, and pepper, to taste. Spoon the lobster mixture into 4 buttered ramekins or individual bakers or a buttered 1 1/2-quart shallow baking dish. Set aside and let cool down to room temperature.

Take puff pastry out and to thaw for 20 minutes. Cut or roll out, if necessary, to fit dish. Cut vents in the pastry then fit over ramekins or baking dish. Brush with egg wash. Bake at 400° for 20 to 30 minutes or until pastry is puffed and nicely browned.

Disssssssssssssss-missed!!

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